"We’ve missed Master Chief"

The return of Master Chief will have Halo competing with the big boys once again, says Microsoft.

The iconic hero was last seen in a new game in 2007’s Halo 3. Developer 343 decided from the outset that Halo 4 would mark the character’s come-back, and Microsoft believes his return will see the franchise competing with the likes of GTA and Call of Duty once again.

Bringing Master Chief back is huge,” boasts Xbox director for global marketing Steve Beinner.

Honestly, there’s not many franchises that have done what Halo has. There’s not many that have broken through and sold that much. You named two of them, GTA and Call of Duty. But if you look at platform exclusives, nothing is bigger than Halo.”

Halo 4 producer Kiki Wolfkill added: Halo has missed Master Chief a little bit. And that’s not to take anything away from the games that were off the main line. But we’ve built so much equity in Chief and really such a strong icon in Chief, that I do think people missed a little bit not being able to see what he was doing next. He is such a strongfocal point.”